Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) is a 41 amino acid peptide that is the primary physiological regulator of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) derived peptide secretion from the anterior pituitary gland [J. Rivier et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 80:4851 (1983); W. Vale et al., Science 213:1394 (1981)]. In addition to its endocrine role at the pituitary gland, immunohistochemical localization of CRF has demonstrated that the hormone has a broad extrahypothalamic distribution in the central nervous system and produces a wide spectrum of autonomic, electrophysiological and behavioral effects consistent with a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator role in the brain [W. Vale et al., Rec. Prog. Horm. Res. 39:245 (1983); G. F. Koob, Persp. Behav. Med. 2:39 (1985); E. B. De Souza et al., J. Neurosci. 5:3189 (1985)]. There is also evidence that CRF plays a significant role in integrating the response in the immune system to physiological, psychological, and immunological stressors [J. E. Blalock, Physiological Reviews 69:1 (1989); J. E. Morley, Life Sci. 41:527 (1987)].
There is evidence that CRF has a role in psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases including depression, anxiety-related disorders and feeding disorders. A role for CRF has also been postulated in the etiology and pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as they relate to the dysfunction of CRF neurons in the central nervous system [for a review, see: E. B. De Souze, Hosp. Practice 23:59 (1988)]. Furthermore, CRF is known to have a broad extrahypothalmic distribution in the CNS, contributing therein to a wide spectrum of autonomic behavioral and physiological effects [see, e.g., Vale et al., 1983; Koob, 1985; and E. B. De Souze et al., 1985]. For example, CRF concentrations are significantly increased in the cerebral spinal fluid of patients afflicted with affective disorder or major depression [C. B. Nemeroff et al., Science 226:1342 (1984); C. M. Banki et al., Am. J. Psychiatry 144:873 (1987); R. D. France et al., Biol. Psychiatry 28:86 (1988); M. Arato et al., Biol. Psychiatry 25:355 (1989)]. Moreover, excessive levels of CRF are known to produce anxiogenic effects in animal models [see, e.g., Britton et al., 1982; Berridge and Dunn, 1986 and 1987]. The density of CRF receptors is significantly decreased in the frontal cortex of suicide victims, consistent with a hypersecretion of CRF [C. B. Nemeroff et al., Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 45:577 (1988)]. In addition, there is a blunted adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) response to CRF (intravenously administered) observed in depressed patients [P. W. Gold et al., Am. J. Psychiatry 141:619 (1984); F. Holsboer et al., Psychoneuroendocrinology 9:147 (1984); P. W. Gold et al., New Engl. J. Med. 314:1129 (1986)]. Preclinical studies in rats and non-human primates provide additional support for the hypothesis that hypersecretion of CRF may be involved in the symptoms seen in human depression [R. M. Sapolsky, Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 46:1047 (1989)]. There is also preliminary evidence that tricyclic antidepressants can alter CRF levels and thus modulate the numbers of receptors in the brain [Grigoriadis et al., Neuropsychopharmacology 2:53 (1989)].
Neurochemical, endocrine and receptor binding studies have all demonstrated interactions between CRF and benzodiazepine anxiolytics, providing further evidence for the involvement of CRF in these disorders. Chlordiazepoxide attenuates the “anxiogenic” effects of CRF both in the conflict test [K. T. Britton et al., Psychopharmacology 86:170 (1985); K. T. Britton et al., Psychopharmacology 94:306 (1988)] and in the acoustic startle test [N. R. Swerdlow et al., Psychopharmacology 88:147 (1986)] in rats. The benzodiazepine receptor antagonist Ro 15-1788, which was without behavioral activity alone in the operant conflict test, reversed the effects of CRF in a dose-dependent manner while the benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG 7142 enhanced the actions of CRF [K. T. Britton et al., Psychopharmacology 94:396 (1988)]. Preliminary studies using the putative CRF receptor antagonist α-helical ovine CRF (9-41) in a variety of behavioral paradigms demonstrates that the antagonist produces “anxiolytic-like” effects that are qualitatively similar to the benzodiazepines [C. W. Berridge and A. J. Dunn, Horm. Behav. 21:393 (1987), Brain Research Reviews 15:71 (1990)].
CRF receptor subtypes, CRF1 and CRF2, have been identified and are distributed heterogeneously within the brain [D. T. Chalmers et al., TIPS 17:166-72 (1996)] thereby suggesting potential functional diversity [S. C. Heinrichs et al., Regul. Peptides 71:15 (1997)]. For example, widely distributed brain CRF1 receptors are strongly implicated in emotionality accompanying exposure to environmental stressors [G. Liebsch et al., Regul. Peptides 59: 229-39 (1995); D. W. Schulz, PNAS 93: 10477-82 (1996)]. Significantly, CRF1, not CRF2, receptors appear to mediate select anxiogenic like behaviors [Heinrichs et al., 1997]. A more discrete septal/hypothalmic distribution [D. T. Chalmers et al., J. Neurosci. 15(10): 6340-50 (1995)] and the availability of alternative endogenous ligands [J. Vaughan et al., Nature 378: 287-92 (1995)] suggest an altogether different functional role for the CRF2 receptor [Heinrichs et al., 1997]. For example, a novel CRF-family neuropeptide with preferential affinity for CRF2 relative to CRF1 receptors is reported to suppress appetite without producing the profile of behavioral activation observed with selective CRF1 agonism (H. Tezval et al., PNAS 101(25): 9468-9473 (2004)]. In many cases, CRF2 agonism produces similar effects to those reported for CRF1 antagonists or CRF1 gene deletion [S. C. Heinrichs, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 20(8):311-5 (1999)]. While CRF2 agonists have been proposed as antiobesity agents, CRF1 antagonists may be an important treatment for obesity as well [C. Contoreggi et al., Neuroendocrinology 80(2): 111-23 (2004)].
In view of the above, efficacious and selective antagonists of CRF1 are desired as potentially valuable therapeutic agents for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases. It is thus desirable to discover new CRF1 antagonists.